The 50th Toronto International Film Festival has wrapped up, and I was honored to be invited to the festival as press this year. So today, I’m going to rank the films I saw at the festival, worst to best so you can keep some future titles on your radar, (or avoid some future titles coming up). Without any further ado, let’s start the count down.

17. Ballad of a Small Player

Ballad of a Small Player is the newest film from Edward Berger, the man who directed acclaimed films like All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave. Since the man has directed some of the more critically acclaimed films of the last few years, his next film was on my radar to see at the festival. Sadly, it didn’t live up to his previous work. Not only did it not live up to his previous work, Ballad of a Small Player is one of the hardest movies I’ve ever had to sit through in a movie theatre. There is talent on display here. This movie has solid direction behind it, a really interesting aesthetic color palette and a dedicated performance by Collin Farrell. However, it feels like every wrong choice was made in this movie for me. The film is obnoxious, throwing sound and visual flair at you every two seconds but forgetting to be about something other then, “man having bad time gambling”. Some of the more surrealist elements reminded me of that Weeknd movie Hurry Up Tomorrow that came out and bombed earlier this year, but I’d argue that movie at least had me interested in what it was trying to do- even if it failed spectacularly. This movie fails on any sort of engagement, making it the movie I was the maddest at sitting through.

16. Scarlet

Scarlet was one of the most disappointing films I’ve seen so far this year. I am a big fan of Mamoru Hosada, I believe titles he’s directed such as Wolf Children and The Boy and the Beast are some of the most exceptional pieces of anime I’ve seen in the last few years. For my money, Hosada can be compared to the greats like Miyazaki and Kon. So what happened here? Scarlet is incomprehensible- and not in an interesting and abstract way. This film fails to elaborate on its existence for two hours. It simply feels like things are happening and as an audience we are supposed to simply subscribe to have investment in any of the characters or the stories. There is one abrupt musical number in the middle of the film that’s a lot of fun, but I cannot tell you why it’s even in the film. The film also looks ugly at times, there is more CGI implemented in this film juxtaposed with the traditional 2D animation and the technology wasn’t quite there yet, making this feel like a first draft that was sent to festivals.

15. The Christophers

The Christophers had it’s world premiere at Tiff this year, we went into this movie not knowing much other than the fact it’s directed by Steven Sodenberg, who has three movies that came out in the calendar year. Sodenberg is known for releasing a lot of movies, it seems he’s premiering something at Tiff every year. Last year he premiered Presence at the festival, am movie I ended up enjoying. I wish I could say the same about The Christophers. This movie has ideas about the art an artists makes and how much value it has outside of it’s creator. It has a solid performance by Ian McKellen that makes this film at least watchable at times. The film comes across as dull after a while, the direction here is static. The same shot compositions over and over again and nothing to make this film distinguishable as a film. I believe it would have worked better as a play where it would be allowed to have a stronger relationship with the audience. As a film, it never truly engaged me in any way.

14. Rental Family

Rental Family had a weird history at the TIFF film festival. This film was posed to be the breakout people’s choice winners at this years film festival, posing it as an Oscar contender. The film however, failed to even place at this years festival and is likely to be forgotten about now this award season race. This doesn’t indicate the quality of the film however, some of the best films ever made have been ignored by The Academy. Rental Family won’t be included on that list however. On the surface, Rental Family is a perfectly enjoyable and sentimental film with a lush score by Sigur Ros lead singer Jonsi and solid direction by Hikari. However, I couldn’t help but feel icky watching this movie because the entire movies premise is predicated on gaslighting. Most of the movie is our main character doing something morally reprehensible and then having to learn its wrong and he’s hurt people but hey it’s okay, as long as he says sorry he’s okay to continue to keep the relationships of the people he’s met based on a lie! It screams a white savior narrative that’s surrounded by a morally reprehensible premise, so I’m happy we won’t have to be talking about this one anymore this award season unless it makes a surprise comeback.

13. Blue Moon

I hate that I have to put this one so low because Richard Linklater is one of my favorite directors of all time and Ethan Hawke is one of my favorite actors of all time and them collaborating on a movie about lyricist Lorenz Hart feeling betrayed after the opening night of the musical Oklahoma I thought was a fascinating premise for this movie. The fact this film only has a few locations and happens in real time I also thought was great framing. Something felt missing from this film however and I left the movie feeling underwhelmed. I think the script is pretty sharp and tight, but the film itself lacked any sort of mis en scene. The cinematography was static for the most part and the color grading felt incredibly drab. This movie felt like a made for TV movie in production value, which took me out of the film. Ethan Hawke is giving a huge performance here which I appreciated, but his portrayal of Hart for the most part felt a little over the top to me. Overall I didn’t think this was a bad film by any means, I just think it’s a lesser Linklater film in my opinion. Don’t worry though, we will be talking about another film he had at the festival I really enjoyed later on.

12. The Testament of Ann Lee

The Testament of Ann Lee was one of my most anticipated movies of the entire festival. It is brought to us by the same creative team as The Brutalist, which is not only my favorite movie of last years TIFF but one of my favorite movies in recent memory. Testament of Ann Lee has the same audacious ambitions of The Brutalist, but falls short of being great. This movie has immaculate cinematography, an immaculate score, a sweeping sense of scale and a show stopping performance by Amanda Seyfried but that sadly all gets undermined by a movie that lacks any sense of story structure. I do appreciate a more arthouse approach to storytelling but when it undermines the strong messages the movie is trying to convey and makes the film feel like a slog after a while, I think this was a swing and a miss sadly. There’s not enough build up in some moments to make the story really flourish and there’s too much focus on other scenes that make the films pace feel off. It’s certainly worth watching, but there’s a great movie in here that’s sadly not developed enough.

11. Space Cadet

Adorable! Sadly not many people at TIFF saw Space Cadet, but it is a really charming animated movie that reminded me a little bit of Robot Dreams but a lot slighter than that film. This is a movie that children are going to love for it’s whimsy and charm but parents will appreciate the poignancy of the film’s framing about discovering yourself after you say goodbye. It’s such a sweet little film, I beg you to seek it out.

10. Wake Up Dead Man

Using the new Knives Out movie as a tool to explore using the church as a weapon instead of a tool for love is something I think was totally admirable for Rian Johnston to do with this franchise. It makes Wake Up Dead Man feel a lot more admirable than Glass Onion, the last film in the Knives Out franchise that I didn’t really care that much for. There’s a lot more to thematically chew on with Wake Up Dead Man, which I ultimately really enjoyed. However, the deeper themes about religion can’t help but be undermined at times by the film needing to be about a murder mystery. I wish this film dug a little deeper into it’s themes. I like the gothic approach the film takes with the material, one shot in particular felt like a horror movie and I loved it. I wish the film had pushed that tone as well. Overall, you have a good film here with great ideas. I liked it more than Glass Onion but it still fails to live up to the first film, which I believe is one of the best murder mystery films ever made.

9. It Was Just An Accident

This year’s Palme D’or winner was the new film from Jafar Panahi. It Was Just An Accident, which is an excellent film wrestles with political violence, vengeance and justice for marginalized people. It is a film that will unfortunately only become more and more timely as the weeks go on in our country and the parallels we are seeing in this film vs what is going on in the United States are pretty damning. However, it is different circumstances entirely, but that doesn’t stop this film from feeling totally universal. It’s engaging to see these character struggle and argue on how to deal with a war criminal that is in the back of their car and the conversations sprawl from funny to absolutely devastating and it tonally never feels off. This movie isn’t a slog, it’s incredibly engrossing and has a mic drop of an ending that won’t leave me anytime soon. I could see this film being an awards contender by the end of the year.

8. Train Dreams

Train Dreams is a gorgeous and existential tale of a logger who experiences love and loss as he goes through life and wonders what the purpose of any of it is. It’s a calming film that is reminiscent of Terrence Malick at times. The score and the cinematography make this low stakes film feel epic and sprawling in scope. The film feels so personal, moments in the film don’t feel like they amount to much until you get to the end of the film where you start to understand the scale and scope of all of our lives. While we aren’t all loggers that experience the harsh conditions nature can bring like the protagonist of this film does- this film is a nice reminder that a life is worth living even with the inevitable heart break that it brings along with it.

7. Hamnet

Hamnet was the breakout hit of TIFF this year, this was agreed upon the most successful film of this years festival winning the coveted ‘People’s Choice’ award. I think Hamnet is an excellent film. Chloe Zhao directs this film with a lot of passion and craft. Every sequence looks like a painting. The performances are also terrific with the standout being Jessie Buckley, who should easily be winning The Oscar this year. Her portrayal as a grieving mother is harrowing and heart wrenching. This movie is astounding, but it is a film I more so appreciated for the craft of it which is remarkable. It is a hard watch, but a rewarding one all the same.

6. Eternity

Eternity, the newest sweeping romance from studio A24- is perhaps the most crowd pleasing film the studio has ever released and I got swept up in it. The story about rather a woman will choose to spend her afterlife with her husband of over sixty years or a man she fell in love with who died in war is one that is sure to illicit tears from the audience. I was shocked this film didn’t place at people’s choice, because I heard several people who saw it sing it’s praises. The world building in this film reminds me of something Pixar would come up with. It’s so well established and there’s a lot of great gags in this film. The way this world operates is so fascinating and it leads to some of the most striking production design I’ve seen in a film this year. I also believe it is my favorite Miles Teller performance to date, he has a challenging role here to play a grieving 80 year old man discovering himself again in his younger body and he channels that so well. This is a film that swept me up in it’s romance and I believe the overall message of the film is really timely and thoughtful.

5. Bad Apples

Bad Apples was my biggest surprise at TIFF this year and I am begging you to seek this film out when it comes out. Bad Apples is about a school teacher who ends up finding herself in a situation where she can keep her evil student out of her classroom and how that reflects back on her as a teacher. When the evil student is gone from her classroom, she gains more respect from her faculty and is able to have deeper connections to the rest of the students in her class. Twists and turns arise here however, and we have one of the tensest and funniest movies I’ve seen in recent memory. Saoirse Ronan gives one of her best performances in this movie as the school teacher, who is immediately identifiable to anyone who’s ever felt like an outcast at their job. Following her journey, even when she is obviously doing things she shouldn’t be doing, I was always rooting for her to get away with it because her motivation is so compelling. This is going to become elementary school teacher’s Joker and I’m here for it. It’s so funny and genuinely went places that I was not expecting it to.

4. Nouvelle Vague

I told you guys we would talk about another Richard Linklater film much later on in this list. It was really cool to see him premiere two films at this year’s film festival, but you could tell all of his passion went into this film which is his best film since Boyhood in my opinion. Nouvelle Vague is about the story of how the french film Breathless got made and the unconventional and care free approach Jean Luc Godard took when making the film. The final result is a wonderful and charming french film about the power of going outside with your crew and making a movie just for the pure fun of it. Aspects of the film reminded me of the chaotic energy of an episode of The Muppet Show. The references and cameos to french new wave cinema is likely to have any film studies excited. It’s a love letter to the art form. Some people will accuse the film of being hagiographic, but I believe the film is a slice of life look on how some art gets made due to the pure passion of it, it’s not an instruction manual or a glorification of Godard but rather a funny look into his overall process as an auteur filmmaker.

3. Frankenstein

By far and away my most anticipated movie of TIFF and most people’s was Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein. For years, Del Toro has wanted to make his adaptation of the beloved movie monster and now he has finally had his chance to. A noted Mary Shelley enthusiast, Del Toro makes this film a more solid adaptation of the book than the original 1940’s James Whale film was. The final result is a confounding movie that is a lot more complicated in theme than a lot of people will be expecting. This adaptation of Frankenstein is not a horror movie, but an examination of autonomy. The two part structure of the film shows Del Toro’s angle of the film pointedly, he wants us to see all sides of a story and to emphasize with everyone- especially the misunderstood monsters of the world. Jacob Elordi, who plays Frankenstein’s monster in this film gives one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent memory. The way he is able to mold us interpretation of this iconic character was incredibly profound. Throughout the film, you start to understand that thematically most all of Del Toro’s work has themes of Frankenstein strung throughout, making this feel like the thesis statement to his entire body of work. It reminds me of what Peter Jackson did with his adaptation of King Kong, which is another slow paced film where he is tackling the morality of Kong himself. Frankenstein is incredible, but I do believe some will struggle with its slower pace and lack of thrills. This is a character study first and foremost and a pointedly introspective character study at that.

2. Poetic License

I was surprised by how much I loved Poetic License and I can see it being the film from this years festival I go back to the most in the upcoming years. This movie is a total comfort watch, I love the fall aesthetic the film has, it’s so cozy. Along with the nice vibes comes a really engaging coming of age story about a forty year old woman played by Leslie Mann who discovers she is lost in the world and needs guidance and is able to find her free spirit through the comradery of two friends she meets in a poetry class she is auditing. A standout performance here is Cooper Hoffman, who is proving to be one of the best young actors of his generation. He has an entirely different screen presence than his father Phillip Seymour Hoffman did in films and it’s cool to see him finding his own identity after his breakout role in Licorice Pizza a few years ago. This movie is a charming breezy film that had me laughing consistently, this film has so many funny lines and I can be a hard laugh in a movie. Maybe it’s the Apatow connection to the whole film since Judd Apatow’s daughter Maude directed this movie but this gave me a similar feeling I had watching Freaks and Geeks for the first time and that’s the biggest compliment I could give a movie. I love this movie a lot and cannot wait for more people to be able to see it.

1. No Other Choice

No Other Choice is not only the best film at TIFF in my opinion, but it will be among my favorite films of the entire year. This is the new film from Park Chan-wook who continues to show why he is a master at his craft. This film is a lot more straight forward than some of his more melodic and surrealist films in the past but I also think that is what makes No Other Choice one of his best films (if not his best film) to date. The film will be inevitably compared to Parasite which I think is unfair expectations to put on the film itself because the angle is different. This movie is a movie that condemns capitalism but it’s pointedly about what it does to the individual. The fact that in the world, you are only defined and valued by your job. Without a job, you lack any sort of social status and cannot provide for a family. Without a good enough job that can keep you afloat, you start to loose your identity and that is an existentially terrifying thought. Lee Byung-hun gives the best leading actor performance of the year so far as a father in a desperate situation who will go at any lengths to keep his family happy and to be able to continue to keep up with his various hobbies. He’s an identifiable protagonist and even when he starts doing reprehensible things out of desperation to get this job he knows he’s perfect for, I was always rooting for him because I cared about him and his family. The film perfectly sets you up for the chaos that’s about to happen and why you should be invested in it. It reminds me of the arc Walter White has in Breaking Bad and I found the film to be consistently riveting and a great deep look at the horrors the working class has to go through and how capitalism pits us against each other instead of bringing us together like it should. This film also features some of the best action set pieces I’ve seen in recent memory. There is a scene that involves several gloves that is one of the best directed sequences of film I’ve seen in recent memory. No Other Choice is an incredible film and I really hope it gets the attention and love it deserves this awards season.

That are all of the films I saw at TIFF! What are some titles you are excited for and if you went to the festival, what is your ranking?

What I Saw at TIFF in 2025 Ranked